Friday, December 9, 2011

12/9/11

Noon Position 24 03.5' S, 118 08' W, SOG 6.8, COG 170, Days run 160nm. We've gotten to the weather that I was hoping the trades would bring - lazy, easy, and fast. I haven't touched the sails for the last two days, and the boat is just scooting along, and we're actually starting to climb back to the East as well. I've started in on doing some boat prep for the southern ocean - I swapped down to the small jib and did some sail repair on the big one, which is now in it's semi-permanent home for the next few months as a seat at the chart table. The weather is actually almost too nice again - it's making me lazy. I realized how out of shape I've gotten after swapping jibs and spending a few hours sewing - the next day I was actually kinda tired all day, just from the stitching and battling with the jibs. I've started doing some leg exercise in the mornings to pretend to fight off the atrophy, but I doubt it will do much - it's hard to get a whole lot of exercise when the longest distance you can walk at one go is about 15 feet. On land my moods are normally pretty stable, but I've found that alone at sea they tend to oscillate much for rapidly, and to greater extremes - small things have disproportionate influences on how I'm feeling, whether its the weather, or the fact that it is physically impossible to open a can of pineapple juice without it spilling at least 2 drops in a random direction. I think in some part it's due to the lack of sleep - I know that I get very irritable when I don't get enough, and I've been noticing that on days when I'm up frequently at night I'm a lot crabbier. I think the solitude also plays a part - without anyone to talk to, it's harder to share experiences and let others help moderate my moods. It's not a bad thing, just part of the experience. I came out here to see if I could sail around the world, to live fully, and feeling fully certainly is part of that. I've heard rumors that there are concerns about the organized crime ring surrounding pens that was operating on board. The good news is that the ringleader has been apprehended and strongly reprimanded, after being so crass as to leave 4 pens in the galley on top of the fridge, where clearly no pen has a right to be. After restoring the pens to their natural habitat, the criminals seem to have toned down their efforts - a clear win for justice.